


Bokuto and Akaashi Discover the Not-Really-Secrets of Dreamland

by hipster-yams (madamedicelia)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adventures, Amusement Parks, Exploring, Fluff, Haunted Houses, M/M, Photographs, Roller Coasters, Sunrises, abandoned buildings, chairs just chilling in weird places, urban exploring, urbex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-11 00:31:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7868023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamedicelia/pseuds/hipster-yams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Koutarou and Akaashi have been sort-of together for months but have never gone on a date. Who has time between marathons of zombie movies and architecture exams? Akaashi decided to correct this conundrum with a date Koutarou never expected but will never forget.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bokuto and Akaashi Discover the Not-Really-Secrets of Dreamland

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on an urbex kick enjoy this mess bc everything else ive written (6 fics and counting) are turning out really shitty and idk why like my fingers are turning all my ideas to rot, i didn't even edit this I'm so tired

“Get down!”

This is not how Bokuto Koutarou thought his date with Akaashi would go. He had hoped for a dinner, perhaps a walk around Tokyo to do window-shopping or go to an arcade. They would hold hands and kiss goodbye, lips promising another encounter. It would be sweet and tacky and, to be honest, a little vanilla but safe. There’d be little chance of getting too personal or deep or let something embarrassing slip. After all, this _was_ their official first date. 

Akaashi waved Koutarou over and pointed to a shadow in the distance. Koutarou squinted in the 3AM darkness. He made out the vague figure of a fire truck, doors open, in the distance. 

“Did something happen?” Koutarou asked. The only thing Akaashi had told him about this date was that it would make or break their future relationship. 

“If you survive this date, then we can be together,” Akaashi had said with a smirk. “If you can’t,” he had continued flippantly, “then you’re not the guy for me.” Despite having talked to Akaashi often, mostly between classes and during meals, Koutarou was having a hard time getting a read on him. Akaashi rarely gave out bits of personal information and showed only what he wanted on his face, something Koutarou had never learned how to do. 

Koutarou enjoyed the mystery but wanted to know Akaashi better. Sure, he was pretty enough to be a model and smart enough to take over the world one day, but he sure was constipated with his emotions. At first, it seemed cool and suave but after seeing Akaashi so befuddled with Koutarou’s excitement and enthusiasm, he became more awkward and endearing. It made him more human and flawed. Koutarou could never deal with a perfect god; however a faulty human he could love. 

While Koutarou was worried about prowling around an abandoned Disney-knockoff theme park in the middle of the night, he was bubbled with excitement to get to know Akaashi outside of hallways and cafeterias and stolen kisses. 

Akaashi suddenly sat back on his haunches and hid a relieved giggle behind his hand. He shook his head before standing up.

“It’s a prop from the park. I forgot it was there,” he explained. 

Distracted by Akaashi’s precious and rare laugh, Koutarou joined him without argument. 

They crept past the giant toy truck, peering into the cabin. Koutarou gave a quiet whoop, imitating how the truck must’ve sounded years ago. Akaashi smiled and rolled his eyes, motioning for quiet. Only their footsteps were heard as they stepped over the cracked cement spotted with trash and tenacious weeds. Lines of buildings and a roller coaster loomed in the distance. 

Akaashi stood beside Koutarou. “Okay, now you have to cover your eyes.”

Koutarou cocked his head. “Why?”

“Do you trust me?” Akaashi said plainly, more than asked. He held out a thick ribbon.

Gnawing on his lips Koutarou took it and tied it around his eyes. 

“Can you see anything?” Akaashi’s footsteps moved in front of him. 

“It’s not like I could see much to being with,” Koutarou snorted. 

Akaashi huffed a small laugh and grabbed both of Koutarou’s hands, leading him forward. They walked around something, Akaashi warning him about steps and stumbles. Koutarou could hear the crickets quieting as they strode past.

“Here we are.” Akaashi pulled the loose ribbon off Koutarou’s face and stepped aside. “Main Street USA.”

Koutarou laughed as he examined the road. It was overrun with plants and dark only let him see a few meters in front of him. Shops lined the side, the architecture unmistakably Disney. Their windows were broken and the sides covered in graffiti. The vintage lampposts curled in towards the road, light bulbs long broken. 

“So?” Akaashi looked at him, face curious and assured though he shifted on his feet and fiddled with his hands. In the dark, Koutarou could make out his white teeth peeking out as they bit his lip. 

“It’s like Disney after the zombie apocalypse,” Koutarou said, voice light with joy and muscles pulling into a giant grin. “I love it”

Akaashi let out a small, relieved breath. “You had once said you loved surprises.”

“Yeah, during our zombie movie marathon because- Heeeyyyy wait a second,” Koutarou drawled, realization dawning (unlike the sky). He swept Akaashi up into a hug, spinning him in the middle of the abandoned road, their only audience the silent crickets and unperturbed spiders. “You know me too well, Akaashi!”

Akaashi hid his face in Koutarou’s neck but he could feel his smile. “I just pay attention Bokuto-san. You’re very easy to read.”

Koutarou put Akaashi down gently. “Let’s go in one of the stores!” 

He fished out the flashlight Akaashi had given him before the drive to this place. Flicking it on, he pointed it at the first store. He tried the door only to find it locked. The glass was broken but boarded up firmly. Koutarou frowned and started walking to the next store. A sudden light had him glance back. Akaashi nimbly climbed in through the window, landing quietly inside. 

“It’s almost as if you’ve done this before,” Koutarou commented with a smirk, walking up to the window. 

Akaashi pretended to be offended. “Me, trespass? Multiple times at that? Particularly in abandoned buildings? Impossible.”

Koutarou shook his head as he climbed in the store, decidedly less graceful than Akaashi. “You’re something else, Akaashi,” he laughed.

Blinking slowly and with a plain expression, Akaashi simply replied. “Good.”

Koutarou examined their new surroundings. It looked to have been an old diner. All the tables were gone but a few bar stools were left near the bar. A thick layer of dust and dirt covered everything. Their flashlights only illuminated small parts of the shop at any one time, always leaving something in mystery and darkness. 

“This is downright the creepiest place I’ve ever been,” Koutarou said, walking into the adjoining shop. His footsteps kicked up dust that filtered through his light. 

“I think this was a gift shop.” Akaashi knocked on the sides of the shelves, the thin metallic noise echoing in the bare room. He pulled his dust mask over his nose and mouth as the particles resettled. It gave him an unnatural Cheshire grin. It fit in with the setting. 

Koutarou pointed at some surviving paper fish hanging from the ceiling. “That’s how you know this place was tacky.”

Akaashi shrugged, smile pulling at his lips. “It’s a knockoff,” he said as an explanation. 

Koutarou walked into the next shop. Old maps and brochures littered the shelves. They were practically pristine. It felt so weird knowing this place used to be bursting with people and activity, that these buildings once housed someone’s favorite moments and memories. Only a vestige of all that was left, a vandalized skeleton. Lost in a corner was a tiny plastic snow globe, the distorted figure of Dreamland’s mascot grinning in the musty water. The colorful plastic bits fluttered around and stuck to the dome as Koutarou shook it. 

“Souvenir?” He held up the damaged snow globe with a smile, unable to drag his eyes away from the trinket. 

Koutarou heard a click and whipped around to look at Akaashi. In his hands was a vintage Polaroid camera, printing out a dark photo. 

Akaashi covered the snow globe and pushed his hand down towards to the shelf. “Take only photographs, leave only footprints,” he quietly recited. 

Koutarou, placing the souvenir back, looked at the half-developed photo. In it, he was staring at the snow globe with innocent joy and curiosity, his face barely lit up from his flashlight. 

He smiled at Akaashi and nodded. They were only observers of this strange and desolate world. 

They exited the line of stores through a broken door at the end. Turning down a new road, they crept the tight back alleys of the shops, seeking a safer entrance than broken windows.

The first room they entered was full of generators. A narrow hallway led into another room.

“Churro machines!” Koutarou exclaimed. His beam lit up no less than 5 churro machines. 

Akaashi snorted and walked around them, crinkling dry leaves and paint chips underfoot. 

“I can’t believe this is all still here,” Koutarou marveled, walking backwards out of the room. Using Akaashi’s camera, he took a photo before turning and leaving. “Why did this place even close?”

“Disney Tokyo opened and attendance plummeted. No one wanted to go the expensive knockoff when the real thing was nearby.”

Koutarou took in the new room with greedy eyes, flashing his light around as quick as he could to see everything. “Oh, it’s a slushie machine!”

Akaashi’s beam met his on the tall cup topped with icy brown swirls, a straw, and a smile. “It looks like the poop emoji,” Akaashi laughed, biting his tongue to keep quiet. Koutarou made him stand near it to take a photo. 

“It’s for memories,” he explained, tucking the polaroid in his pocket. 

Slinking through the door back into the main road, they continued their adventure. They swayed their flashlights, lighting up the ruined path and the decaying decorations. 

“Hey hey hey, it’s Thomas the Train Engine!” Koutarou pointed at the train. His face was smashed in and his side graffiti. A lovely golden dick adorned on half of his face.

“Thomas as seen some shit.”

They continued their walk. Vines and plants grew over everything, nature gradually taking back what’s hers. Tall speakers were popped and had leaves peeking out of them. Koutarou picked out mascots and toys in the darkness. Their comments were whispers but felt like they carried far in the silence of the night. Only the constant chirp of crickets filled the air. Akaashi tried to take a photo as the rising sun touch the tips of the tall trees but the polaroid came out dark. 

“Are you tired?” Akaashi asked. They were walking through a junction between the parts of the park. There were few decorations visible in the invading nature. 

Koutarou shook his head. “Nope!” he said, popping the last syllable.

“Shame. Could’ve pushed you around in a stroller.” Akaashi pointed to an overturned blue pram in the bushes.

“Daddy.” Koutarou said with the most serious expression he could muster. (It wasn’t very serious).

“I will leave you alone in this place.”

“Akaashi no!” Koutarou ran forward, ready to pout until Akaashi laughed at his antics, when his flashlight beam hit something humanoid and he screamed. He turned tail and hid behind Akaashi.

“Bokuto-san, it’s a statue.” Akaashi shined the beam on a metal statue of a crouching man. He wore a wicker hat. “See?” Akaashi marched forward and knocked the hat off to prove it was fake. 

Of course the statue had no head. 

Bokuto yelled again. He hid in the nearby doorway of a horror ride. 

“For someone so big and loud, I wouldn’t’ve expected you to be so jumpy,” Akaashi said, small smile crinkling his eyes. He walked past Koutarou into the queue area of the haunted house. 

“For someone so delicate and quiet, I would’ve never guessed you had such dangerous hobbies,” Koutarou shot back. 

Akaashi gave his best shit-eating grin before sticking out his tongue. The flashlight reflected off the tiny silver piercing in the middle of his tongue. Koutarou inhaled deeply and swallowed hard, unsure if he was aroused or scared. Glancing at the cavern-like walls of the ride and Akaashi’s ass as he climbed over a low fence, he chose both. 

“Kinda ruins the whole ‘scary’ part.” Akaashi pointed his flashlight at a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. The lights reflected all over the false cave walls and fallen wall panels.

“Even skeletons gotta boogie sometimes.”

Once they were past the dance floor of the dead, they entered the walking part of the attraction. Tall chain fences separated the audience from the automatons and sets. Ugly ghouls and badly made demons lurked in broken crevices adorned with fake plants and cobwebs. Koutarou poked his flashlight at one exhibit in particular, frowning at the scene. 

“What’s that floating next to it?” He pointed beside the grey bog witch. 

Akaashi squinted in the dark, cocking his head. “I think… it’s a chicken.”

Both their flashlights landed on a mass of dirty red and orange. It had legs sticking out, casting odd shadows as it twirled on its string. Akaashi took a picture, Koutarou using both flashlights to illuminate the scene. 

Continuing through the tight maze of the haunted house, they found many other trashed scenes. Burning witches, giant monsters, and gory goblins. By the time they reached the mirror maze, Koutarou was hiding behind Akaashi and jumping at ever noise. 

“This is even scarier than a normal haunted house,” Koutarou moaned, averting his eyes from an obviously fake human spine littering the ground. 

“I think we’re close to the exit.” Akaashi glanced at Koutarou, pursing his lips. He grabbed Koutarou’s hand and gently pulled him along. 

“What if it’s boarded up?” He gripped Akaashi’s hand tighter, feeling the cold of his skin seep into him. 

“Then we’ll have to walk back like this.” Koutarou couldn’t see his face but could here the teasing grin in his tone.

“Hold hands with you? Even longer? Gods save us,” Koutarou announced dramatically, sounding as false as Kim Kardashian’s tan. Just to make sure Akaashi knew he was kidding, he held onto his hand tighter and scooted closer. 

Akaashi laughed silently as he led Koutarou through the rest of the maze. They passed scenes of giants making human soup, a big demon cat (which both of them agreed looked like Kuroo), and a mummy with a graffiti dick. Koutarou’s hands had gotten sweaty from fear and joy at being near Akaashi by the time they made it out.

To Koutarou’s pleasure, Akaashi didn’t let go of his hand. They strolled hand in hand past boat rides and a Viking swing. The roller coaster grew more and more clear as the sun rose. They tried to take a selfie with the polaroid camera but they either came out blurry or cut off their faces. They made light commentary as if the park were open and running and not abandoned and scheduled to be demolished. Just your typical date. 

“Hey hey hey, Akaashi. Where to you think his ship _be headed?_ ” Koutarou fought a laugh as he pointed to a headless dummy on a pirate boat. Someone had tied a noose around his stump neck.

Akaashi shook his head, hand hiding his smile. Koutarou let his giggle free, resting his head on Akaashi shoulder. He tried to get him to stop hiding his smile. It was too pretty to be covered up.

“Are you ready to see the castle, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi had a faint, uncovered grin left after some coaxing by Koutarou. 

“Oh my prince, show me to you humble abode.”

A shallow pool laid empty in front of the castle. A statue of some character stood, mostly in one piece, at the end. The complex system of crossing pipes and spigots for water works were bare and rusted. 

The castle itself used to be various pastel colors. The colors have now faded and been doused with a healthy amount of graffiti. Sliding shingles left bald spots on the roofs. Bricks eroded and fell or were destroyed by vandals. The once carefully maintained gardens were overrun with weeds and grasses. Even so, patches of colorful flowers managed to survive the abandonment. 

Koutarou and Akaashi stood hand in hand at the doorway, looking up at the feat of architecture and all its stubbornness to stay up. Years ago, children and adults alike would have screamed with innocent joy to see it and pretend they were somewhere else, somewhere regal and grand, if just for the day. 

“If this was still open, someone would’ve asked to take our picture already,” Koutarou noted. 

“We’ll have to do our best without them.” Akaashi awkwardly splayed his fingers to hold the camera facing them. Koutarou wrapped his arm around his waist and pressed close, smile not at all false. The camera almost tumbled out of Akaashi’s hand a couple times but he managed to get the shot. It was their only selfie that came out good. 

Koutarou gingerly wrapped both around Akaashi’s waist and rested his head on his shoulder. Akaashi leaned into his touch. Koutarou took that as a good sign and kissed his jaw. He watched Akaashi shake the polaroid and wait for it to develop, feeling the heat from the blush on his cheeks radiating. 

“I have one more place I want to show you, if you think you can handle it,” Akaashi whispered, unwilling to break the silence around them. He turned his head to look at Koutarou. The sun was starting to slip over the horizon, finally bringing light to the abandoned park. It turned the shadows on Akaashi’s face blue and the highlights gold and pink. 

As a respond, Koutarou leaned down and kissed him. It wasn’t their first kiss. Everything from fevered kisses during movies to lazy kisses in the morning had dotted their months together. Despite seeing each other practically every day, they had never gone on a proper date. Koutarou grinned into the kiss, feeling Akaashi’s breath as he laughed. It was, however, their first kiss after “officially” dating. 

Pulling away, Akaashi searched Koutarou’s face before grinning. “I think you can handle it.”

Akaashi led him by his hand through the park. Koutarou swung their linked arms and whistled “It’s a Small World” until Akaashi threatened to lock him in the churro machine room. Then he started singing Disney songs he knew Akaashi liked. 

The narrow path suddenly opened into the waterpark. There was just enough sunlight to see veritable mountains of plastic lawn chairs. 

“A bunch of chairs just chilling,” Koutarou joked.

“They look pretty distressed to me.”

Koutarou noticed how many were broken and painted over. Most of them were knocked over as if a tornado had deposited them there from a chair factory. He hummed an agreement. 

Their jovial stroll led the merry band of two in front of a long set of stairs almost completely grown over with vines. 

“After you,” Akaashi said with a little wave. 

The metal stairs creaked under Koutarou’s weight but held firm. Dozens of pipes littered the landings. In the queue line track, a cart waited. Their protective cushions had been ripped and the cars graffitied. 

“This is so cool.” Koutarou squatted next to a car to peek inside only to find leaves and twigs. However, just the fact that it was there, this giant roller coaster cart, was enough to amaze him. He walked over to the controls and pushed the buttons and switches to see if anything would happen. The ride remained still.

“This is not our final destination,” Akaashi said, jumped down onto the tracks.

“Please use better phrasing in this situation, Akaashi.”

Akaashi continued on his merry way down the service walkway abutting the tracks. Trees and vines growing over the fence made the walk precarious. 

“Any chance you’ll hold my hand through this?” Koutarou asked warily after walking into a spider web.

“I don’t think that would aid our situation.”

Koutarou heaved a big, dramatic sigh. Soon, they got high enough that the trees weren’t an issue. However, Koutarou could now see the rust on the pipes and all the hazardous framework that held up the tracks. Though it was still standing, it did not console him. While walking around a curve, Koutarou could see straight down and the ground was not close enough for his comfort. He clutched the cold railing with all his force as they started up the stairs of the main hill. The birds did not seem bothered by his fear as they sung their morning songs. He didn’t even notice Akaashi had stopped until he bumped into him headfirst.

“This is it,” Akaashi said, spreading his arms with a wary smile. “I thought we’d miss it but we’re just in time.”

Koutarou turned. The wind kissed his face as the gentle pink and orange glow crawled up the horizon. It lit up the entire park in its decaying glory. He could see the light scurrying over the ruins as the sun drew itself into the sky for another day. The blue melted into purple and white at the borders of the sun’s shine. Twinkling stars packed up their brilliance in preparation for the brightest star in the galaxy, willing to glimmer another night. The birds intensified their music, each one singing its own line to a symphony. 

“It’s beautiful,” Koutarou gasped. He felt Akaashi’s fingers touch his own. He easily slid their hands together, fitting perfectly like cogs in a clock.

**Author's Note:**

> nara dreamland is a real place in japan!!
> 
> this one is really thorough and feed my inspiration a lot -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SN8pGTw8ys
> 
> but also this one has a lot of detail from the daylight -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u1gcSbrTWw


End file.
